As recited in the abstract above, the present invention relates to a system for optically combining two images to provide a single image that may be photographed by a camera.
A number of prior art systems and methods are known for producing a composite photograph of two separate images. Such systems are shown in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,980 to Roth, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,819,264 to Voorhees. In each of the foregoing structures, a title or heading information is superimposed on a filmed image. More particularly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,980 provides a movie camera projection system including a reflecting arrangement for causing the recording to the title or heading information on the film strip. U.S. Pat. No. 3,819,264 provides a cathode ray tube system which electronically displays programmed data onto a suitable reflector and the reflected data and a projected image are focused onto and recorded on a film.
Another known technique presently used for producing titles is the so-called "burn-through" technique, in which two exposures on the same frame are necessary to combine the images. A problem with this latter technique is that it requires absolute film and subject registration, and the cameras and copy stands for obtaining the desired registration are quite expensive.